Roses and thorns 4/10/11

A rose to 19-year-old Heritage Academy alumnus Drew Estes and the junior class at Immanuel Center for Christian Education, for doing a good Easter deed.

Estes, and his University of Alabama classmate Micah Lawson, and former classmate Yulexis Argota started their own nonprofit when they were college freshmen, committed to helping children with cancer.

Immanuel''s junior class helped the nonprofit assemble Easter baskets that will be distributed to children in the pediatric cancer unit at the University of Mississippi Children''s Hospital in Jackson.

Estes'' and his classmates'' accomplishment is extraordinary for their age, and their commitment to helping children is commendable. Immanuel''s Easter basket project is only one that the Alabama students are organizing.

For more on Estes and the Easter project, see today''s Lifestyles section.

We''re reluctant to give a thorn to a church, but we thorn the leadership of First Baptist Church for its decision to demolish the historic Victorian home on Seventh Avenue North known as the Friendship House.

The home has fallen into a state of disrepair over the past several years. The church has pulled, and has been granted, a permit to demolish the house. This, despite at least one serious offer to purchase the home for its renovation.

We believe the church, and other owners of historic Columbus properties, owe the rest of the community a little extra effort to preserve our shared history. It appears the church could have done more to save this house from demolition. Maybe the congregation will reconsider its decision.

A rose to the staff of the Starkville High School Jacket Buzz, who took home a whopping 23 awards at a student newspaper competition last week.

The awards, which included eight first-place finishes, were given to the staff at a Mississippi Scholastic Press Association competition in Oxford. The Jacket Buzz swept the news photography category, took top honors for best sports section, column of the year and first place in feature writing. The school even took the award for broadcast staff member of the year despite having no broadcast program.